ASX blue-chip shares can be among the most appealing picks for passive income due to their reliably high dividend yields.
The strongest businesses usually have the best balance sheets, highest margins and the best grip on their market share.
I'm going to talk about two ideas for dividends that I'd call ASX blue-chip shares.
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Medibank Private Ltd (ASX: MPL)
Medibank is the largest private health insurer in Australia with its Medibank and ahm brands. The company also has a growing healthcare division following multiple acquisitions.
Healthcare is a defensive industry with largely consistent demand, helping Medibank generate defensive profits that then fund consistent dividends.
However, the Medibank dividend isn't being maintained at the same level. Aside from 2020, its annual payout has increased every year during the past decade.
In the recent FY26 result, Medibank increased its annual payout by 6.7% to 19.2 cents per share. That came after a 6.7% rise in group operating profit and a 27.5% rise in net profit.
In FY27, the business is aiming to grow its market share in a disciplined way, including improved volume momentum for the Medibank brand. It also expects its non-resident private health insurance segment to deliver solid gross profit growth. The Medibank Health segment expects to deliver around 25% profit growth in FY27 thanks to Better Medical.
At the time of writing, its FY26 payout translates into a grossed-up dividend yield of 5.7%, including franking credits.
WAM Leaders Ltd (ASX: WLE)
WAM Leaders is a listed investment company (LIC) that focuses its investments on ASX blue-chip shares. The LIC structure allows WAM Leaders to turn the pleasing investment returns it makes into a growing annual dividend.
Impressively, its portfolio has returned an average of 12.1% per year since inception in May 2026, before fees, expenses and taxes. That level of return has allowed the business to increase its annual dividend every year since FY17. The FY26 annual dividend was increased by 2.1% to 9.6 cents per share.
That payment translates into a FY26 grossed-up dividend yield of 10.2%, including franking credits, at the time of writing. That's an incredibly high (and attractive) payout, in my opinion.
Some of the businesses in the portfolio that it had a large active position in at the end of July 2026 included Mirvac Group (ASX: MGR), Stockland Corporation Ltd (ASX: SGP), Rio Tinto Ltd (ASX: RIO), Amcor (ASX: AMC) and GPT Group (ASX: GPT).
However, there were also typical names in the holdings such as Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES), Macquarie Group Ltd (ASX: MQG), Goodman Group (ASX: GMG) and BHP Group Ltd (ASX: BHP).
I think its ASX blue-chip share strategy will help it continue to deliver pleasing returns over the long term.
